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Amy JH Kind , MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatrics

The Coordinated-Transitional Care (C-TraC) Program: A Transitional Care Option for Vulnerable Patients. Amy JH Kind , MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatrics University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Madison VA GRECC. Mr. V’s Story.

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Amy JH Kind , MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatrics

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  1. The Coordinated-Transitional Care (C-TraC) Program: A Transitional Care Option for Vulnerable Patients Amy JH Kind, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatrics University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Madison VA GRECC

  2. Mr. V’s Story • 89yo hospitalized with pneumonia • Discharged on oral antibiotics for an additional 5 days • Information told to patient in detail, but not to his family • Patient had unrecognized cognitive impairment. Forgot to fill antibiotic prescription. • Rehospitalized 14 days later *photo credit: Annie Levy, 2010.

  3. 30 Day Rehospitalizations:A Major Health System Problem • Affect 1 in 5 hospitalized Medicare patients • Account for over $30 billion annually • Major target in health reform *Jencks et al, NEJM, 2009. 360: 1418-28.

  4. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act • Medicare Rehospitalization Reduction Program • Public reporting of rehospitalization rates • Payment penalties for 30 day rehospitalizations • 2012: CHF, MI, Pneumonia • 2015: COPD, CABG, Vascular Procedures • All condition • Funding of demonstration projects, bundled payments, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) * MEDPAC, “Report to Congress: Promoting Greater Efficiency in Medicare”, June 2007: 103-120. * Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, Sec. 3025 (2010)

  5. Rehospitalization Rates by Region1 1Jencks et al, NEJM, 2009. 360: 1418-28.

  6. The Problem: Health System Fragmentation Hospital Nursing Home Primary Care

  7. Contributors to Health System Fragmentation • Organization of the health system into distinct, independent institutions (”silos”) • Lack of formal relationships/information systems between care settings • Communication between settings is often poor • Patients move frequently between care settings • Transitional care given little emphasis in traditional clinical training programs * Coleman. JAGS. 2003;51: 549-555; Ma et. Al. J Am GeriatrSoc 2002; 49(4):S35.

  8. Care Transitions Can Be Dangerous • 41% of patients have laboratory tests pending at time hospital discharge; primary care providers are unaware of 61% of these • Poor communication of care plans to primary care provider can lead to inappropriate, delayed care • Over half of rehospitalized patients do not see their outpatient provider between the time of discharge and rehospitalization *Roy et.al, Ann IntMed, 2005; Moore et al, Arch Int Med, 2007.; Jencks, NEJM, 2009.

  9. Difficult for Patients to Overcome Health System Fragmentation • Patients are often not prepared for next setting • Little patient empowerment in hospital • Lack of patient education * Coleman. JAGS. 2003;51: 549-555.

  10. Definition • Transitional Care: A set of actions designed to ensure the coordination and continuity of health care as patients transfer between different locations or different levels of care in the same location * Coleman. JAGS. 2003

  11. Transitional Care Services Combat System Fragmentation • Health care staff bridge the hospital and home • Post-hospital home visits to teach patients about their care and conditions • Decrease rehospitalizations by about 30% • Not appropriate for all patients or settings * Naylor, JAMA, 1996; Coleman, Archives, 2005.

  12. Available Transitional Care Models: Not Appropriate for Madison VA Hospital • Home visits impractical given patient dispersion • Veterans travel up to 4.5 hours • 75% reside beyond the reach of a home visit • Currently available models exclude dementia • Dementia increases rehospitalization risk by >40% • None tested within a VA setting

  13. VA Coordinated-Transitional Care Program (C-TraC) • Phone-based program • Specially-trained RN nurse case manager • Protocolized encounters • Teachings based on theory of Spaced Retrieval* • Method of learning information by practicing recalling that information over increasingly longer periods of time • Applicable in early stages of dementia • Caregivers involved, activated at each step * Bourgeois, et al, J CommDisord, 2003; Camp et al, Appl Cog Psych, 1996.

  14. C-TraC Goals • Educate and empower the veteran/caregiver in medication management • Ensure the veteran/caregiver has medical follow-up • Educate the veteran/caregiver regarding red flags • Ensure the veteran/caregiver knows whom to contact if questions arise

  15. Veteran Eligibility • Hospitalized on non-psychiatric acute-care ward • Discharged to community AND one or more of the following: • Have documentation of dementia, delirium or cognitive impairment • 65 years or older AND • lives alone OR • had a previous hospitalization in past 12 months

  16. Protocol: Identification NCM = ‘Transitional Nurse-Case Manager’ • Veteran identification • NCM reviews daily electronic list of all hospitalized veterans • NCM participates in daily multi-disciplinary discharge round on each targeted inpatient ward to offer transitional care and outpatient viewpoint to inpatient care team

  17. Protocol: In-Hospital Visit • NCM meets with eligible veteran during their hospital stay for a brief educational intervention • Introduction • Medical follow-up • Red Flags • Contact information • Contact reinforced by a brightly colored ½ page handout documenting 3 red flags, date/time of next NCM call, date of next f/u appointment and contact information for NCM and triage nurse

  18. Protocol: In-Hospital Visit

  19. Protocol: Telephone Follow-up

  20. Protocol: Telephone Follow-up • Initial call is 48-72 hours of discharge with caregiver/veteran to reinforce • Medication management • Medical follow-up • 3 Red flags • NCM contact information • Medication discrepancies or red flags prompt either a contact to the PCP or an appointment in urgent care

  21. A Note on Medication Counseling • Veteran is asked to have all pill bottles in front of them during initial call • Veteran is asked: “Tell me how you take your medications.” NOT “Do you take drug X?” • Good medication reconciliation and counseling takes the bulk of the phone time during the follow-up calls • Average 36min/call

  22. Protocol: Telephone Follow-up • Veteran/caregiver is called weekly to reinforce the 4 major transitional care goals • Process ends when: • Veteran sees PCP or • Veteran and NCM agree that no further telephone follow-up is needed or • Four weeks pass • Template documentation

  23. Veterans Served • 605 Veterans approached, enrolled over first 18 months • 5 approached and refused (<1%) • Compares favorably to home-visit transitional care programs which can have >50% refusal rates* • ~1/3 of veterans had caregivers • 22% had dementia/cognitive impairment * Stauffer et al, Archives, 2011; Voss et al, Archives, 2011

  24. Characteristics

  25. C-TraC Veterans’ Education Levels

  26. Percent of Veterans with Medication Discrepancy Detected at 48-72h by C-TraC Medication Discrepancy?

  27. Baseline (N=103) Intervention (N=605) 30-Day Rehospitalization Rates for Veterans in VA C-TraC Program During Baseline and Intervention Periods, Overall Q = 3-month period (ie. quartile) Average rehospitalization rates for baseline (34%) and intervention (23%), P-value = 0.013

  28. Multivariate Analysis

  29. Estimated Cost Avoidance • Total up-front program cost = $250/veteran enrolled • Gross direct cost avoidance of $966,167 over 18 months • After accounting for all programmatic costs, net cost avoidance of $1,225/veteran enrolled

  30. Limitations • Single site • NCM not available on weekends/holidays • Current data relies on pre-post design • Adjusted analyses, prolonged assessment to maximize rigor • Multi-site trial would be stronger

  31. Next Steps for C-TraC • Expansion to 2 other rural VA hospitals in Wisconsin/Upper Michigan (funding pending) • Expansion to non-VA hospitals

  32. Conclusions • C-TraC is a feasible, low-cost program which decreases rehospitalizations in Madison VA Hospital veterans with high-risk conditions • C-TraC may represent a viable alternative for transitional care in VA, rural or other settings challenged by geographic distance, constrained resources or patients who refuse in-home visits • Next Steps: Multi-site Trial • Protocol/Tool Kit: available for free download at www.hipxchange.org

  33. Acknowledgements • Funding • Madison VA GRECC • VA T-21 Funding: Innovative Patient Centered Alternatives to Institutional Care • NIA Beeson Career Development Award (1K23AG034551) • UW Health Innovation Program Collaborators Laury Jensen Steve Barczi Alan Bridges Becky Kordahl Maureen Smith Sanjay Asthana Thank you Madison VA Hospital veterans, caregivers and staff and Andrea Gilmore, Brock Polnaszek, Melissa Hovanes, Peggy Munson, Bert Landreth, Sheila Kelly and Megan Carey

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